Our next public observing is scheduled for Sunday, March 24th at 8:00pm. See you there!

Registration for the Cherry Springs Star Party 2024 will open on March 18th at 4pm. See www.CherrySprings.org for details.

Public Astronomy Course

The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg will be offering a Spring Public Astronomy Course will be held on six consecutive Wednesdays beginning April 3, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm followed by additional observing with telescopes if the sky is clear.  All sessions will be held at the Edward L. Naylor Observatory, 670 Observatory Drive, Lewisberry PA 17339.  The course is open to those 14 and older.

Cost is $50 which includes a text, the Petersen Field Guide Stars and Planets 4th Ed. by Pasachoff, an Edmund Star and Planet Locater planisphere and ESSO Star Chart.

Preregistration is necessary: send a check to “ASH” c/o Robert Young, 224 Herr St., Harrisburg PA 17102. You can email him at YoungBob2@aim.com.

The next General Meeting of the Society will be held on Monday March 25th at 730pm on Zoom. Meeting is open to the public, see our Meetings page for more information. Email secretary@astrohbg.org if you wish to attend as a visitor.

ASH's Public Observing Sessions 

ASH's has public observing sessions planned during the warmer weather months where we open our observatory up for the public to view objects through our telescopes! Please see the public observing page for dates and times! . The Public Observing sessions are held at ASH's Naylor Observatory located at  670 Observatory Drive in Lewisberry PA. The public is able to view celestial objects through telescopes located in multiple observatory buildings.  Also be sure to see our meteor collection located in the Asper Building! We can only hold the events when the sky is clear enough to use the telescopes, so if it is cloudy or raining we will have to cancel the session. If we are forced to cancel a session, we will announce it on this website, on the Naylor Observatory Facebook page, or you can call the observatory at 717-938-6041 30 minutes before sunset on the day of the session to see if it is cancelled.

We invite you and your family to visit Naylor Observatory on selected evenings this year. Come and observe the beauty of the moon, planets, double stars, star clusters, nebulae and galaxies with your own eyes through our large telescopes. Admission is free. 

Cherry Springs Star Party

The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg is proud to host the Cherry Springs Star Party each spring at Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County, PA, an IDA dark sky park. This star party is a 3 day gathering of more than 400 amateur astronomers and night sky lovers who gather to observe together, listen to speakers, and enjoy each other's company under some of the darkest skies east of the Mississippi River.

Registration is required to attend the party and is planned to open in March 2024 for the 2024 Cherry Springs Star Party which will take place from  June 6th  to June 9th 2024 at Cherry Springs State Park - Cherrysprings.org

Introductory Observational Astronomy Course is planned to be held again in Fall 2023 - check back for start date.

The Astronomical Society of Harrisburg will be holding a Fall public Astronomy Course will be held on six consecutive Wednesdays beginning September 6, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm followed by additional observing with telescopes if the sky is clear. All sessions will be held at the Edward L. Naylor Observatory, 670 Observatory Drive, Lewisberry PA 17339.  The course is open to those 14 and older.

Cost is $50 which includes a text, the Petersen Field Guide Stars and Planets 4th Ed. by Pasachoff, an Edmund Star and Planet Locater planisphere and ESSO Star Chart. Preregistration is necessary: send a check to “ASH” c/o Robert Young, 224 Herr St., Harrisburg PA 17102.

Membership - Join ASH

ASH Membership Benefits Include:

Contact the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg

Mailing address for the Astronomical Society of Harrisburg

Astronomical Society of Harrisburg

P.O. Box 160

Lewisberry, PA 17339